Like many fish, to sense movement in close proximity, Astyanax fasciatus has receptive organs sensitive to changes in water pressure on its skin. The Mexican blind cavefish has the additional capacity to purposefully detect non-moving obstacles using this organ found along the sides of its body. The closer the fish comes to non-moving obstacles, the more suction action can be observed.

The team, including Roi Holzman, Shimrit Perkol-Finkel and Gregory Zilman, described the method as similar to echolocation, which is how bats and dolphins, among other animals, judge how far away from objects they are. The Mexican blind cavefish also emit sound waves, though unlike bats and dolphins they do not calculate the time it takes sound to bounce back, instead the fish measure water pressure changes on their skin.